B i o g r a p h y
Composer B. P. Herrington was born and raised in the Big Thicket of Texas and his music is rooted in the folk ballads and rural music of this unique region. His works have been performed by artists such as soprano Tony Arnold, conductor James Baker, Ensemble Linea, El Perro Andaluz, the London Sinfonietta, the Royal Academy Symphony Orchestra, the New York Youth Symphony, the BBC Singers, in venues such as Rothko Chapel, Queen Elizabeth Hall, Carnegie Hall, and London’s Purcell Room.
“..an intriguing blend of common-man expression and formal acuity.” (The New York Sun)
Composition awards include the Royal Philharmonic Society Composition Prize, Morton Gould Award (ASCAP), Leo Kaplan Prize (ASCAP), First Music Award (New York Youth Symphony) and two composition awards from the Royal Academy of Music, as well as commissions from New American Voices, cellist Daniel Saenz, and saxophonist Mas Sugihara . He has twice been a finalist for the American Prize in composition for orchestra and wind ensemble. His music has been selected for performance at ACO/Berkeley Symphony EarShot Reading Session (2014), June in Buffalo (2013), Wellesley Composers Conference (2013), the Cleveland Composers Recording Institute (2013), Pharos Arts Festival in Cyprus (2012), the Soundscape Festival in Italy (2011), UMKC Cello Days (2010), the OMMAGIO memorial concert for Berio in London, the Royal Festival Hall Organ Recital Series, and the British Society for the Promotion of New Music.
Herrington earned a Ph.D. in music composition at the Royal Academy of Music, London, on an Overseas Research Scholarship where he studied with Simon Bainbridge. He also studied with Marc Satterwhite and Steve Rouse at the University of Louisville, and with Frank Felice and Joe L. Alexander at Lamar University. He has attended composition masterclasses with Brian Ferneyhough, Mario Davidovsky, Eric Chasalow, Melinda Wagner, Sir Peter Maxwell Davies, Karel Husa and Donald Erb. Herrington also attended masterclasses with Helmut Lachenmann, Beat Furrer and Georges Aperghis at the Darmstadt International Summer Courses in 2006. In addition to studying trumpet and piano at the undergraduate and graduate levels, he studied conducting privately, in graduate seminars and in masterclasses (Dr. Barry Johnson, Dr. Kimcherie Lloyd, and Craig Kirkhoff).